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Hammet 

A^CHMET 



Emilze T. Stedman 



MlDDLBTOWTf, CONN. 



Hammet Achmet 



A Servant of George Washi:ngton 



Emieie T. Stedman 

MiuDLBTOWN, Conn. 



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Hammet Achmet. 



^gfijWHERE lies before me a bundle of old papers, 



■ -oj^ all bearing the quaint autograph " Hammet 
Achmet." Who was he? I have consulted the 
various records, and talked with the oldest inhabi- 
tant, and this is what I have learned. 

Years ago in Middletown, Conn., there lived an 
aged colored man; he was very short and thick-set, 
very black, with sooty wool, which long manipula- 
tion had converted into pipe -stem curls, which 
waved about his face in the most comical way 
imaginable. He had been a servant of General 
Washington. At first as a little boy, holding the 
General's horse, then waiter — for many long stories 
he could tell of the fine dinners and grand company 
in " Massa Washington's mansion." 

lyater on, a "drummer in the war," presumably 
the War of the Revolution. At any rate, he had a 
pension, which "Massa B." (Jonathan Barnes), as 
Hammet called my grandfather (a lawyer, sans peiir 



i fiammct Hchmct. 

ef safis reproc/ie), took charge of for the old negro, 
and paid Hammet as per order. Achmet could not 
read, but his autograph, "Hammet Achmet," pre- 
ceded by a pencil sketch of himself, or wife, as 
bearer of said order, was unique indeed. He always 
drew a circle to represent a dollar, or two circles for 
two dollars. The orders rarely amounted to more 
money at one time. One order is dated September 
15th, 1839. 

Hammet was undoubtedly a servant of Washing- 
ton, and had in his possession a tiny silver box, 
shaped like a coffin, inclosed in a wooden case of 
similar shape. This contained a lock of General 
Washington's hair. This box and a rapier, or small 
dress sword, gold handled, and engraved with the 
initials of its former owner, were among the souve- 
nirs of his service in " Massa Washington's famih*." 

These relics were buried with Hammet. Whether 
the}' rest unmolested, I know not. The poor man 
feared they would rob him of his treasures so care- 
fully guarded during his long life. I trust his rest 
was not disturbed. A harmless, kind old man he 
was. A waistcoat of flowered silk which ' ' the Gen- 
eral " had worn, Hammet showed to his friends with 
due reverence; but never wore it himself, for not- 
withstanding the added glor^' it would have given 

his costume, it was sacred to Washington. Df^sed 

If 




/ 



^^^^^'^^^^^ 3^^^v^^ 



Rammct Hcbmct. 5 

in quaint regimentals — dark blue, with red stripes, 
and gay epaulettes, he drummed for the "vendue," 
or auction. Musicians said "there was real music 
in old Achmet's drum." 

Once some roguish boys persuaded him to don his 
suit, and decorating his hat with a card bearing some 
ridiculous inscription, they sent him out with his 
drum on Main street one Sunday morning. Ham- 
met mistrusted all was not right, and said he would 
first ask " Massa B." if he ought to drum on 
Sunday. 

Grandfather was returning with his wife and chil- 
dren from the Old North Church, and they were 
greatly astonished at the sight of Hammet standing 
sentinel before their house. He had not struck his 
drum, and it needed but one word from " Massa 
B." to assure him that the Sabbath should not be 
broken by a call to the " vendue." Hammet made 
drums and sold them — most excellent drums they 
were, I have been told — and he might often have 
been seen walking through the streets with a string 
of little drums over one shoulder. 

His cottage door bore the inscription: "Drums, 
large and small, made and sold by General Wash- 
ington's waiter." Hammet also collected old shoes, 
and took them to Nathan Starr's gun factory, where 
they ' ' were burned to polish guns. ' ' 



6 Rammct Hchmct. 

We have a toy which Hamniet made for one of 
" Massa B.'s" Httle daughters — a "Jacob's lad- 
der," he called it. It is made of strips of wood 
and leather, and folds and unfolds an infinite num- 
ber of times. It is inscribed all over with hiero- 
glyphics. 

One time when grandfather was attending court 

in New Haven, a man came to the B residence 

and inquired for grandfather. The eldest daughter 
opened the door, and the man informed the child 
that he was Phineas T. Barnum, and that he was 
trying to get Hammet Achmet to travel with his 
" Greatest Show on Earth." 

P. T. Barnum had at that time negotiated for 
Joyce Heth, a servant woman employed by Wash- 
ington. 

Hammet had refused to go unless " Massa B." 
should say he must. Not finding it possible to 
persuade old Achmet, and Lawyer B. not being at 
home, Barnum hired a horse and carriage (there 
was no railroad to New Haven then, and the stage 
went there only every other day), and drove to New 
Haven to interview " Massa B." Grandfather said 
he would advise with Hammet, the result being that 
"General Washington's waiter" concluded he did 
not want to be exhibited as one of Barnum's curi- 
osities, and remained at home. 



Rammct Hcbmct. 7 

The kindness and Christian courtesy which grand- 
father always showed toward everyone won the 
extremest devotion of poor Hanimet, and " Massa 
B.," that noble man, whom the highest education 
had not made haughty or indifferent to the lowly 
ones of earth, was almost worshiped, I might say, 
by old Achmet. 

Hammet's first wife, named Jane, was buried in 
the old northwestern part of Mortimer cemetery, 
and now houses are built over the spot where once 
stood a wooden slab painted dazzling white, and 
inscribed: "Jane Achmet," by Hammet's own hands. 
This slab he considered quite like marble. 

Mrs. Achmet second was not a "colored lady," as 
the first was, — but as mixed marriages were not in 
favor, the young bride (she was very much Ham- 
met's junior, in fact his first wife and he had be- 
friended her, and educated her after their fashion,) 
washed her face and hands in a decoction of mahog- 
any chips, and went to the Methodist parsonage, 
and married " George Washington's waiter." The 
dye lasted a long time — perhaps she renewed it 
occasionally. At any rate, she remained a colored 
woman until Hammet's death, and then, being 
wooed by an old sailor and bird fancier, named 
Folio, she became white, and married him! Folio's 
house was still standing within my recollection, but 



8 f>ammct Hchmct, 

nothing now remains, I think, even of the old-fash- 
ioned brick chimney which remained long after the 
house was destroyed. 

Wild strawberries grow in Hammet's garden, and 
mild-eyed cows wander where the home of the odd 
couple used to be. 

Mr. and Mrs. Achmet quarrelled sometimes, and 
once she cut off Hammet's ringlets as he lay asleep. 
They were his especial pride, and as a Chinaman 
feels insulted to the death at any abbreviation of his 
queue, so poor Achmet hid himself till the curls 
grew again. Hammet had a garden which was 
very productive, although he never "dug it over" 
or "ploughed it in," merely punching holes in the 
hard earth with a sharp stick, and laying the corn 
and potatoes therein. 

A favorite custom of his was to walk through the 
town, and meeting one and another, to tell his 
dreams. " Massa Hosmer," he would say to the 
stately Judge, " I dreamed you gave me a shilling." 
Of course the dream would be realized. Once some 
one said to him: " Dreams go by contraries. Ham- 
met." He quickly replied: " Oh, Massa, I dreamed 
again you didn't give me any." Meeting a troop 
of merry boys, Hammet would say: "John, I 
dreamed you gave me a penny." The boys were 
kind to him. 




-^■r-»^rw»v^<r^' C-oTT^ 




r>ammct Hchmct» 9 

One of those boys has said that such a strange 
figure as the old negro's would hardl}^ escape mob- 
bing now-a-days in our streets, but then the boys 
had not the modern notion that it was so "smart " 
to molest and terrify the weaker brethren. In the 
rush of busy life we hardly heed the warning: " If 
ye offend one of these little ones. ' ' 

Hammet was said to be one hundred and fourteen 
years old when he died. 

Only one of the servants of the great General, and 
only one of the great number who have passed be- 
yond the river to the " Better Land," for Hammet, 
with all his ignorance, knew the way to the life 
everlasting, and " Massa B." no doubt talked with 
him about the Lord Jesus Christ, whose service true 
soldiers may enter, and whose reward is: "Well 
done, good and faithful servant, enter thou into the 
joy of the Lord." 

Hammet Achmet was granted a pension in the 
Connecticut line of troops, and received fourteen or 
fifteen hundred dollars as pension before 1839. 



10 Rammct Hcbmct. 



fFrom J. Barnes 's Ledger. ) 

I-ast payment made Hammet Achmet, $i.oo, Nov. i8th, 1842. 

Hammet died Nov. igth, 1842. 

Nov. 29th, 1842. 
Mary A. Achmet, Dr.: 

To cash paid court of probate. - - - - - $2.00 

Postage on letters to and from Hartford, - - .30 



Cash paid to clerl< in Hartford, 


- .38 


My fees (J. Barnes), ----- 


1. 00 


John B. Southmayd's l^ill, undertaking, - 


f).00 


William B. Casey's bill, M. D., 


- 2.37 


Wm. S. Camp & Co.'s bill, - - - - 


1.02 


Samuel Bridgeman's bill, - . - - 


3.00 


Zar Bunnel's bill, ------ 


• 75 


Cash, -------- 


- 3-69 




$20.51 


Rec'd and approved 

in presence of ^^^^^^ ANN x" 
GeKARU SiCKLKS. Mark 


ACHMET. 








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LIBRPRY OF CONGRtSS 



011 836 762 5 



